Austin 7 Special

Restoration/Building of an Austin 7 Special

I really must get on with rewiring the Chummy as it’s due it’s WOF and registration in a few weeks. With this in mind I rushed home and did something else entirely. I finished my little Brooklands mounting plinth thing.

This is just a little wooden base and engraved plate to hold the small pebble I borrowed on my visit to Brooklands earlier this year. The base is made from oak that was cut and glued and sanded to resemble (roughly!) the members banking on the track.

Tonight I fine sanded it with 320 grit then started coating it in linseed oil. I have loads of that left over from my railway dining table I made.

I really like how oiled oak looks. It reminds me of old, solid things. I made a little cage to hold the stone from brass tube that I hammered flat then sanded. It’s just bent into a cross type shape and the arms then bent around the stone to hold it in place. I soldered on another piece of brass rod to support everything.

Next, after oiling the base AND my railway table some more, I worked on the brass plate for the front. I used the same etching technique I used on my tachometer face.

The brass is of course far too shiny at the moment but it will dull down quickly. I rubbed a little black paint into the etched letters but I don’t want them too dark so it looks old. You can also see I very carefully made sure that the lettering is every so slightly off-centre just to give it that hand crafted look.

Well, that’s my excuse.

After more oiling I simply had to screw the plate to the front and drill a hole in the ‘banking’ to hold the piece of track in place. I really like how it came out. A fun little distraction and a permanent reminder of my visit.

It should look better still once the brass tarnished and it’s covered in dust. Won’t take long in my house!

Oh, I almost forgot, when I was working on it I had the Chummy parked outside and a random, old, magician appeared and started talking to me about it! Apparently he had one once. This is him, Jon Zealando. I am really not making this up. The most random people stop and want to talk about the Chummy when they see it.

One Response to “Brooklands reminder.”

Hello Simon,
Sorry to have missed you in England but, if you were ill, perhaps I had a lucky escape!
Can you give us a few details on your etching technique please? I think Renaud asked about it back in April of last year but I can’t find where you might have given us the gen.
Cheers
Nigel